Just Arthur
by Yukka Sam
Summary: After Merlin s little incident with a knight, Arthur ponders his own relationship with his servant. Oneshot.Merlin/Arthur Friendship


**A/N**: Hi! This is my first fanfic ever, and it´s been a long time since I last wrote, but I´ve been reading a lot, fics too, especially from Merlin´s fandom. I love this show so much, that it inspired me to try and write. Also, I warn you that I´m not a Native English Speaker, I´m trying to improve my writing as well as my English, so if you see any mistakes that burn your eyes, make me know, ok? Thank you!

I decided to start with a fanfic about Merlin and Arthur´s friendship because in my opinion it´s one of the the best things in the show: )

**Author**: Yukka Sam

**Words**: 793

**Rating**: K+ to be safe, I´m new after all...

**Disclaimer**: Isn´t it obvious that I don´t own Merlin? I´m Spanish and I don´t even live in the UK.

**Characters**: Arthur, Merlin and a knight as guest star:) Friendship.

Some little spoilers from 2x13 here. It´s not really important:), but just in case...

**Just Arthur**

In Camelot, the order of society was pretty simple. Peasants were the lowest, in the middle there it was nobility, and on the top, royalty. Peasants worked for nobles and royalty, and in return they protected them. Simple really. Even little kids knew about it.

So of course Arthur wondered why Merlin did not.

Merlin respected everyone, Arthur knew that. It was just that he didn´t respect each person in the way he should. To the boy, a good person didn't need a title to be loved, and in the same way, a bad person wasn´t allowed to do as he pleased just because there was a "Lord" before his name.

So the Crowned Prince, as officially Merlin´s master and unofficially Merlin´s friend, should have stopped him before he did something stupid...again.

Clearly, he hadn´t been on time.

"But seriously, Arthur, I didn´t do anything! He was just being a pig to those children just because they wanted to pet his horse..."

"And of course, you just _had_ to go and save the day. Well, I might be mistaken Merlin, but I think heroes don´t spend their days in the stocks. So what does that tell you?"

The raven haired boy glared at him while struggling to find a more comfortable position. At least the people had stopped throwing tomatoes at him when the prince had arrived.

But obviously he wasn't going to tell Arthur that. If there was something the prince didn´t need was to further inflate his ego.

"Well, if you had been there, Sire..." the servant pronounced the title with the sarcasm he always used, but unlike all the other times, Arthur frowned at the word. Merlin didn´t know why, even the prince wasn´t sure himself. But it was because of the incident.

_Arthur was walking down the streets of Camelot. It had been a month since the Great Dragon attacked and everybody was helping to rebuild houses and take care of the injured. The prince smiled , for he was proud of his people, of their braveness, their kindness..._

_In that moment, he heard a horse whinnying loudly and some screams. He sped up on that direction, and just before getting round the corner, he heard a voice he knew too well._

_Before seeing the scene, he already suspected_

"_It is you who should be ashamed! You almost crushed them with your horse! Let me go!" Merlin was trying desperately to free himself from the hold of one knight who looked ready to kill him if he didn´t shut up. Of course Arthur, who knew that was practically impossible, had to intercede._

"_Enough" he said simply, and the two men turned to him. He threw a warning look at his servant, and then asked the knight. "Sir Wallace, could you tell me what is happening here? And if you would mind letting go of my servant..."_

_In a few words Sir Wallace explained everything, all the time throwing menacing glares to Merlin, who was rubbing his sore arms, quiet for the first time. _

_In the end, of course, he had to put Merlin in the stocks. Even if Sir Wallace was a pig, he was still a knight, and for some reason, that was why Merlin got punished instead of him. _

_But the worst part had been when the knight had passed next to him he had looked at him with satisfaction. Because Arthur had done the right thing._

"_Thank you, Sire."_

"Sire?" He was back to the present when Merlin used that word. It was the same treatment he had gotten from the knight. Was he to Merlin the same thing as he was to that man?

No, he thought while finally freeing the boy from the stocks. He had known the boy long enough to see that Merlin treated him in a way he didn´t any other noble. And, if Arthur was sincere, neither did he treat him as any other servant. Yes, there had been a time when he thought like that knight. But Merlin had changed it all. As unbelievable as it was, somewhere in between their strong dislike, Merlin saving his life, Arthur saving Merlin´s, spending most of time together in hunting trips, rescue missions and fighting a dragon, they had become friends.

"Thank you, Sire."

"Don´t call me that" he abruptly said.

Merlin looked confused.

"What, Sire? But you´re always saying that I should treat you with respect, being the Crowned Prince of Camelot and all that..."

"Yes, I know. I know" Arthur sighed impatiently, running a hand through his hair. Somehow Merlin always managed to get on his nerves. "It´s just...I understand we have to keep the barriers up when we´re in public, but you _have_ to call me Arthur. Okay? To you, I want to be just Arthur."

_I want us to be equals._

"Fair enough" Merlin said, a bit surprised but clearly happy, "Arthur."

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So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Throw tomatoes at it? Whatever it is, please review!

And by the way, is somebody as excited as I am for Merlin´s new episode today?:D I´m gonna watch it whatever it takes! Even if I had to travel to the UK! Or search for it all night in case some kind soul uploads it on YouTube (wink wink)


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